Upper Rose Bar Enhancement Project

First Posted Last Updated

Partners: South Yuba River Citizens League, cbec eco engineering, Cramer Fish Sciences,

Funders: Wildlife Conservation Board and Yuba Water Agency

Background: The Rose Bar project site is located 9 river miles below Englebright dam on land recently acquired by the Yuba Water agency. The purpose of this project is to create and enhance two spawning riffles for Chinook salmon and steelhead. Englebright Dam prevents gravels from moving downstream from upper portions of the watershed. In the Goldfields, the piles of hydraulic mining debris provide the gravel sizes necessary for spawning. However, because Rose Bar is so close to Englebright Dam which traps downstream movement of gravel, as the Yuba River erodes spawning gravel, there is no source of gravel to replace it. . The main objective of this project is to add spawning sized gravels to the riverbed from locally sourced material. We will be sourcing the necessary gravel from hydraulic mine tailings in the uplands above the project and at the same time stabilizing the hillslope which will decrease the amount of mercury delivered to the Yuba River during rain events. The total area of the project is about 43 acres with about 5 acres of new spawning habitat.

The primary objectives of the Proposed Project are:

1) Increase the amount of high-quality spawning habitat by modifying hydraulic (i.e., depth and velocity) and substrate conditions to within the ranges preferred by Chinook salmon and steelhead during typical spawning periods.

2) Create a design that mimics natural morphological features (e.g., riffle, pool) that would not erode significantly through typical non-flood control related operations.

3) Reduce bank erosion in the gully that may be contributing mercury contaminated soil to the Yuba River. 

Progress:

  • Pre-project monitoring (redd surveys) completed Fall 2021
  • The project designs have been completed and were approved by the funding agency.
  • Yuba Water Agency has provided funding to ensure that permits continue to move forward.
  • The grant funding design, drafting of permits, and pre-project monitoring was successfully closed in June 2022.
SYRCL and CFS team conducting redd surveys at Rose Bar control site Winter 2021
Map of Rose Bar Project Site

Project Landmarks

Material Sorting Continues

Up Next

Hansen Brother’s aggregate processing plant is sorting approximately 2,100 tons of material per day. As of 8/23, about 20,000 tons of spawning gravel has been stockpiled for riffle augmentation next… Read More
Gallery·Video

Project Kickoff

July 24, 2023

Construction officially kicked off on July 24th and things have been moving non stop since. This year, we will only be constructing the access road, sorting the material generated from grading and… Read More